DEFINITION - Percentage native forest cover of total land area
PURPOSE- Indicates the suite of environmental values associated with forests (e.g. biodiversity, carbon sequestration, subsistence hunting)
DESIRED OUTCOME - Stable or positive trend in tree cover, or reduced rate of tree cover loss
DEFINITION - E. coli levels in water samples
PURPOSE - E. coli are indicators of faecal contamination in freshwater bodies and are associated with a range of possible human diseases. High levels of E. coli can be associated with cloudy water and decreased dissolved oxygen
DESIRED OUTCOME - E. coli threshold at or below globally accepted standards for drinking and bathing water, which is none detectable per 100 mL for both E. coli and total coliforms for drinking water; standards vary for bathing and swimming water
DEFINITION - % of total arable land that is under cultivation
PURPOSE - Tracks the area of arable land that is developed for agriculture
DESIRE OUTCOME - Stable trend in area under cultivation. A decreasing area under cultivation might affect food security and an increasing trend under area under cultivation implies some conversion of natural vegetation to agriculture
DEFINITION - % cover of wetlands, mangroves, and seagrass
PURPOSE - Wetlands, mangroves and seagrass provide ecosystem services not provided by other ecosystems (such as nurseries for economically important fish species, natural flood mitigation and water filter systems). They also support plants and animals not found in other ecosystems.
DESIRED OUTCOME - Stable or positive trend in area of wetlands and mangroves
DEFINITION - % of live coral cover in coastal and marine environments
PURPOSE - Indicator of overall health of reef ecosystems. These ecosystems provide important services for humans
DESIRED OUTCOME - Stable or positive trend in live coral cover
DEFINITION - Enterococci levels in water samples
PURPOSE - Enterococci are bacteria found in the intestines of animals and humans and indicate the presence of faecal pollution in coastal waters
DESIRED OUTCOME - Enterococci levels are within the safe threshold for marine recreation at all monitored sites. Current United States EPA thresholds are
DEFINITION - Trends in biomass of tuna species
PURPOSE - Track the health of this important component of the ocean ecosystem
DESIRED OUTCOME - Stable biomass catch
DEFINITION - Fish biomass for inshore fish populations
PURPOSE - Indicates inshore fish population status and reef health
DESIRED OUTCOME - Stable level of biomass; or juvenile fish are not overrepresented in markets
DEFINITION - % of plastic in waste audits, including beach clean-ups
PURPOSE- Determine trends in marine plastic pollution from land and at-sea sources
DESIRED OUTCOME - Stable or declining trend in proportion of plastic in waste audits
Indicator 13 : Terrestrial Protected Areas
Indicator 14 : Marine Protected Areas
Indicator 15 : Protected Area Management Effectiveness
Indicator 16 : Key biodiversity areas protected
Indicator 17 : Governance and equity of protected areas
Indicator 18 : Integration of protected areas into wider land and seascapes
Indicator 19 : Invasive species under management or eradicated
Indicator 20 : Priority sites with invasive species managed
DEFINITION : Population abundance of identified species
PURPOSE : Tracks the status of populations of priority species over time
DESIRED OUTCOME : Stable or positive trend in population size
DEFINITIO : Number and types of species listed as threatened on the IUCN Red List and a summary of their threats
PURPOSE : Track the status of threatened species and understand the most important threats
DESIRED OUTCOME : Trend for species to be downgraded to lower threat levels or off the threatened species list
This first state of the environment report for the Pacific region uses regional environment indicators to assess the status, trends, and data quality and availability for the endorsed Pacific environmental priorities. This report also includes an update of the State of Conservation in Oceania report produced in 2013, which was endorsed and published in 2017.
This list of indicators was developed through the Inform project at SPREP for use by Pacific Islands countries (PICs) to meet their national and international reporting obligations. The indicators are typically adopted by PICs for their State of Environment reports and are intended to be re-used for a range of MEA and SDG reporting targets. The indicators have been designed to be measurable and repeatable so that countries can track key aspect of environmental health over time.
The objective of this regional meeting is to build the capacity of the 14 project target countries, with an aim to build an open data community amongst the users of the national data portals and inform outputs. This is intended to improve south-south collaboration, enhance the opportunity for sustainability and increase the feeling of ownership and belonging amongst the project countries.
This will be delivered by real world application of Inform developed processes and tools, focused on a common area to all countries; protected areas.
This publication features fourteen (14) case studies from small island developing states from the Caribbean,
the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean. The stories range from conserving marine resources
and endangered species to initiatives in ecotourism, reforestation and network development.
The number of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) and institutions has grown steadily over the last few decades. The work taking place under these agreements and within these institutions is increasing in volume and specificity, and it is having an increasingly substantive impact, particularly as there is an increasing focus on practical implementation.
This edition of the Multilateral Environmental Agreement Negotiator’s Handbook principally to respond to the need for a practical reference tool to assist in addressing the many complex challenges in such negotiations.
Summary table for the SPREP core national environment indicators. Includes theme and indicator definition, purpose and desired outcome.
Practical arrangements for the regional meeting